Former Patriots captain warns against trading QB Mac Jones

Former New England Patriots captain Jason McCourty warned against the team trading quarterback Mac Jones this offseason. 

As Zack Cox noted for NESN, McCourty explained during a Wednesday morning segment on NFL Network that it's understandable Jones struggled in an offense guided by assistant coaches Joe Judge and Matt Patricia after former offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels left the Patriots to become head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders in January 2022. 

The Patriots hired Bill O'Brien to be their new offensive coordinator this past January. 

"So I think these rumblings and everything we’re hearing, we need to slow down," McCourty continued. "Let’s see what Mac Jones does in year three with a guy like Bill O’Brien coming back who has a ton of experience, a ton of success in the NFL, in the college ranks, and let’s see what Mac is able to do in his third year as quarterback for the New England Patriots. Let’s see how he overcomes all this adversity of all the conversations being had and all of these different things."

Specifically, McCourty was reacting to a Tuesday report that said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has "shopped" Jones to other teams after the signal-caller allegedly angered Belichick by seeking help from outsiders to fix the team's offense during the 2022 season. Multiple reporters have since said that claims about Belichick trying to trade Jones when his value is lower than it was a year ago don't add up for several reasons: